Giddyup y’all, the 2017 San Diego County -- I mean country -- Fair hits the Del Mar Fairgrounds on June 2 through July 4 (minus the first four Mondays and the first three Tuesdays). Honky tonk all-star Toby Keith, country crossover Darius “Hootie” Rucker and blue collar funny man Jeff Foxworthy will headline this year’s Toyota Summer Concert Series.
Keith, who is one of the most awarded country superstars in the world, is still riding the success of his last album, “35 mph TOWN,” which featured the lead single, “Drunk Americans.”
While Rucker hasn’t toured with Hootie & the Blowfish in some time, his “Southern Style” has more than made up for it. In 2009, he broke ground by becoming the first African-American to win the New Artist Award from the Country Music Association.
And Foxworthy? Well, he's just as funny as ever.
Now, you might be thinking, “What the hay? San Diego ain’t big enough for reggae and country!” Well, then you haven’t ventured very far into East County, because it’s plenty country out there. So, saddle up and get your badonkadonk to the fair this year.
Even if you’re not into the whole country thing, the fair’s Grandstand lineup still offers quite the spread to appeal to a variety of tastes. ‘60s pop stars Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, soul queen Patti LaBelle and hometown heroes Switchfoot will round out the fair’s musical festivities, and I dunno about you, but I’m already excited about it.
With the month-long shindig right around the corner, organizers are somehow still announcing big acts: Alt-rock mainstays Collective Soul (who played last year's Kaaboo Festival) shine a light on the main stage on June 14, classic-rock purveyors Grand Funk Railroad prove why they're "An American Band" once again on June 15, and hometown rock & roll heroes Switchfoot grace the Fairgrounds on June 21.
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Also, keep an eye out for the Paddock Stage -- coming on strong with classic UK mod-rock group the Yardbirds (June 7), blues maestros Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite (June 14) and alternative/acoustic-rock stalwarts Sister Hazel (June 15). Seems like no matter how you slice it, good times will be had.
For more information and tickets, go here.
